Fancy a free meal at The Burger Joint…?

No such thing as a free lunch? Not quite true. Dan Bekhradnia’s The Burger Joint have launched an amazing offer, giving away 400 free meals to celebrate their move from Cotham Hill to Whiteladies Road.

When the restaurant first opened on Cotham Hill a few years ago, they ran a similar sort of offer – partly to celebrate their launch, partly to test their systems – and they’re now doing the same again. At the start of September, the restaurant will be moving to the old Planet Pizza site on Whiteladies Road (I believe the two restaurants are actually swapping places…), and there will be 400 free meals available between Wednesday 5th and Friday 7th September.

“How do I get a free meal?”, I hear you ask…well, it’s simple. Simply fill in your details by clicking this link to add yourself to the free meals ballot. All you need to do is provide them with your name, email address, preferred date and time and number of diners, and sit back and wait until the winners are drawn on August 31st!

The lucky 400 will receive a completely free main course burger and side – they’ll only have to pay for any drinks, toppings, starters or desserts they choose to have. In return, The Burger Joint will be asking them to be a little patient in case things don’t go completely smoothly, and to answer a brief questionnaire.

One Response to Fancy a free meal at The Burger Joint…?

As soon as we shuffled through the front door and onto the straw welcome mat that has seen better days (probably had also seen the feet of miserable patrons making for the exit) mistakes glared at us from every corner of this deep-red painted hovel. Unbeknown to us, there was table service, which was funny because we didn’t see any service. A rogue waitress with scraped back hair and an expression that looked like we’d just caught her having a particularly difficult defecation motion beside the till gestured harshly to us that we take our places immediately at a table for two by a fireplace. Thankfully this fireplace was not lit and our knees were at no risk of being burnt. A positive element of the night if you will. Once we had assumed the ready-to-order position and ticked our boxes on the paper menus (which is usually commonplace in Asian restaurants or establishments where the staff English skill isn’t up to scratch) we waited for Miss Frightening to return to us. She poked her finger at my menu and stated in the harshest of voices that I had not chosen a side. I assumed side dishes were an additional charge as the big main menu by the till had the method of ordering and prices on display. They forgot to mention that this portion would be at no extra cost. I poked my finger half-heartedly back at the salad box, and she whisked the paper away to the kitchen. When the food arrived it was neither hot nor cold, and the plates messy on the underside from various condiments it had been put on top of. I hope they were condiments. I ordered the standard burger, no bun with jalapeños, cheese and bacon. The burger was overpriced for what it was, despite the fact that they boast the use of an upmarket local butcher shop. For some reason the same flyer on the table that explained this also described waiting times and that at peak times they try and serve you as quickly as possible. Well, I have a brilliant solution to this race against time to serve, and it is called “hiring adequate staff.” I suppose I reminisce of the days where this particular place was a gorgeous little pizzeria. It was value for money and had an excellent workforce who were happy to chat and fully attentive. Unlike everything we experienced this evening. We noticed a pattern, whereby the two waitresses that were on duty (yes, only two on a Friday night!) were only attentive to single males sat around us. It doesn’t hurt to check back after a couple of minutes to ask if your customers are enjoying themselves. This applies to all your customers regardless of gender. It was brought to our attention after hearing the waitress offer drinks to the table of men next to us that the soft drinks came with free refills. After scowling at this news, my partner pushed my glass to the edge of the table to see if the waitresses took the bait. Eventually they did and I received another drink on the house. At the end of the meal, a different waitress to the one before bounded over to swipe the plates from underneath us as soon as we had finished the last bite. She asked if we had enjoyed our meals and we sat in silence. It was awkward. I managed to stitch up a smile for the sake of making this moment liveable. Do not be fooled by these people that this is an experience worth having. The jig is up! The Burger Joint should consider a name change “These Burgers Disappoint.”